10/22 Magazine Movement Causing Failure to Feed

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Captains1911

New member
I'm having an issue with one of my Ruger 10/22s. With a mag fully inserted, I am able to wiggle it back and forth about 1/16", in which it often gets stuck in the rearward position. It also is able to stick in this rearward position upon initial insertion. With my other 10/22s, I am only able to wiggle the seated mags about 1/32", and they always return to the forward position from the spring tension on the magazine latch plunger. The mag sticking in the rearward position is sometimes causing the bolt to hang up in its rearward position during cycling, resulting in failures to feed. When the bolt hangs up, simply tapping up or forward on the bottom of the mag allows it to move into the forward position, freeing the bolt and allowing it to move forward into battery, chambering the round.

This is not a mag issue as it occurs with all of my factory 10rd mags, all of which do not exhibit the problem with my other two rifles. The problem rifle is a newer model with a polymer trigger group, factory extended mag release, and a VQ auto bolt release.

Any help diagnosing this problem is greatly appreciated.

ETA: I've tried swapping the following parts, and with the stock removed, with no avail: mag release, mag latch plunger and spring, bolt release, entire trigger group.
 
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Captains1911

New member
You should send it back to Ruger for repair.
Click to expand...

That would be a last resort for me, as I have too many upgrades to make that practical at this point. The weird thing is I have about 1500rds thru the rifle, but didn't start experiencing the feeding issue until the last 100 rds or so.
 
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Captains1911

New member
Playing with it some more, I discovered that the entire trigger group from the problem rifle causes the mag to stick in another rifle, making me think it's an issue with the trigger group. However, a trigger group from another rifle installed in the problem rifle also causes the mag to stick, making one believe it's an issue with the receiver. Now I'm really scratching my head.

Yesterday I was able to replicate the malfunction of the bolt hanging up by hand cycling the bolt while pushing up and back on the inserted mag. However, today, I am unable to do the same. I guess for now I will wait and see how it functions, but I am still curious as to what is causing the mag to stick, and if perhaps its not uncommon?

One last thing I forgot to mention was that I recently changed from a factory synthetic stock to a factory wood stock. I noticed that the mag well on the synthetic stock is narrower, perhaps just enough to prevent the mag from moving enough to cause the malfunction, explaining why I didn't have the problem with the synthetic stock.
 
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Jo6pak

New member
I believe you hit upon the problem in your last post. When I bought my 10/22it had a Ramline plastic stock and (ironically) the Ramline 30 round mags did not work very well. They just didn't seem to lock up properly and I had constant issues with misfeeding. Later, I replaced the stock with a Choate synthetic stock haven't had any issues with magazines since.

I realize that one more rifle isn't much of a sample group, but you may be on to something with the stock.
 
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big al hunter

New member
If you like the new stock add some shims to hold the mag in the proper location. Sounds like you need small shims behind the mag at the bottom of the mag well.
 
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Captains1911

New member
If you like the new stock add some shims to hold the mag in the proper location. Sounds like you need small shims behind the mag at the bottom of the mag well.
Click to expand...

That sounds like it would solve the problem. Any recommendations for shims? I would need two, one on each bottom front side of the trigger group.
 
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Captains1911

New member
Just to provide a visual, the problem rifle is on the right. Notice the larger gap between the rear of the mag and the front of the magwell (trigger housing). The second picture shows the mag stuck in the rearward position.

DSC01619.jpg


DSC01620.jpg
 
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big al hunter

New member
Aluminum is a good material. Durable and workable. And it is likely what the trigger group is made of. Super glue will hold it, but it does crazy bad things to plastic so be careful. Use a sharpie pen (black) to make the shiny go away.
 
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Captains1911

New member
Aluminum is a good material. Durable and workable. And it is likely what the trigger group is made of. Super glue will hold it, but it does crazy bad things to plastic so be careful. Use a sharpie pen (black) to make the shiny go away.
Click to expand...

The trigger housing is polymer.
 
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big al hunter

New member
Use plastic and find a plastic specific adhesive. Most hardware stores carry some variety. Clear or black will work. Clear will reflect the color behind it. (Its been a while since I even had my 10-22 out of the safe, polymer? Is my gun that old or am I that forgetful )
 
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